Serial killers have always fascinated as much as terrified us. From Jack the Ripper to Jeffrey Dahmer, they have been endlessly documented and studied by police, academics and citizen sleuths alike. So it's surprising to find out that there are still compulsive killers out there who were captured, tried, convicted and imprisoned, yet somehow managed to not have even a Wikipedia page.
Chris Lay, along with co-host Nat Cardona, are going to spend the next handful of episodes presenting one such case they're calling "Fearfully, she walked the streets."
Over a span of years in the early 1990s, Robert Sylvester Alston killed at least four women in Greensboro, North Carolina. His victims were sex workers. In the time between the start of his killings the local police were slow to grasp the connections, and even arrested a man on very scant evidence who was released thanks to DNA evidence that exonerated him.
What you're going to hear are readings of articles from the Greensboro News and Record alternating with excerpts of interviews with the journalists who covered the story as it was happening as well as revisited it later on.
You can find links to all the articles below:
- 'Strollers' have walked into thin air
- Fourth since last fall \ tip spurs discovery of woman's body
- Anonymous tip \ did killer call cops on body's location?
If you appreciate what you're hearing we encourage you to check out past episodes which examine additional stories from some of Lee Enterprises newspapers from across America.
Tremendous thanks to Lorraine Ahearn for taking the time to talk with Nat Cardona, and we'll have more from their conversation next week, so make sure you're subscribed to the show wherever it is you get your podcasts.
Late Edition: Crime Beat Chronicles is a product of Lee Enterprises. It is produced and edited by Chris Lay, with interviews produced and recorded by Nat Cardona.